Wedding Oestrich
Oestrich Wedding, Colossians 3:12-14
“Put on Love”[i]
Noah and Christa, you have chosen an excellent text as the basis for your wedding. In 1 Corinthians 13 we have what is called the Bibles chapter on Love. It reinforces the importance of love and the understanding that after all other things fade away all that will be left are faith, hope and love…and the greatest of these is love. The Apostle Paul also wrote to another church about this great gift of God, that is Love. He wrote, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
The love about which this text speaks is God's own special kind of love. It is the one thing that existed before God created this universe. Love was there within the Holy Trinity, between Father and Son and Spirit, so St. John could say that "God is love" (I Jn 4:8).
Love always reaches out to embrace all those around it. It was out of love that God created the world. In the Book of Genesis, you see God's love creating a universe where love can be shared. It was a magnificent place of beauty. The evidence of this is seen all around us…the sun and stars, the plants and the trees, and flowers and the beautiful array of wildlife. God gave these to us and then He gave us marriage. It is the pinnacle of God’s love for us and it reflects the relationship that He wants to have with us. God gives woman to man and man to woman to share their love and companionship and to share His love and companionship. In marriage we have a taste of paradise.
Unfortunately, in this world, marriage is not only a taste of paradise, it can also be a taste of hell. Many of you know the sad story of man’s fall into sin. Sin entered into the world and with it, division, a break in the blessed relationship that was to be shared between man and woman and with everyone else. It also brought about a break with our relationship with God. We have seen the devastating effects of this fall in every relationship. Think about it. Who among us has a perfect relationship with every other member of our families let alone a perfect relationship with our spouses? In spite of this, the fall and our sin, God’s love for us continued and it was expressed in His eternal plan to restore all things. God, in love, promised to restore the world to what he meant it to be. The remainder of the Bible is the story of God's faithful love reaching out to bring people back to himself, love spreading itself out to close the gaps and restore oneness. The culmination of this great story comes at the cross. There God's love was given to us in the flesh of His one and only Son Jesus Christ. He shows His great love for us in that even though He was scorned and ridiculed, though He is beaten and bruised, and finally killed, His love for us never gives up. His was a sacrificial love, a love that doesn’t focus on the me, but rather the you. This was the example that He gave us for marriage. This is what it means to “Put on love.” When Jesus died and rose again He made all things new again. But is only by faith in Him that we can see or understand how this is true. When we do, we understand God’s love and forgiveness.
God gave that same love to you personally and individually on the day you were baptized. He said, "I forgive you. You are my child. I love you." That eternal love of God has been yours all your life, reaching out to you, forgiving your sins, covering your failures and shortcomings. God says to his people-and in particular to you today “put on love.” Take that love that has covered your sins and spread it over each other.
"Put on love." That means to forgive one another, and you will need to forgive. It means to serve one another as God has served you. It is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling. Love isn’t a feeling; rather it is an act of the will. It is a commitment that says no matter what, you are my husband, you are my wife.
Noah and Krista, as you share your love with each other remember to share it with all the people in your life and especially your families. Today before God, you are not just starting a new family but you are uniting two families into one. All these people behind you have come to offer you there blessings. Keep them in you prayers, and will you (Families keep Noah and Christa in your prayers. Believe it or not we are all in this together and we all need help. Finally, will you help and support Noah and Christa. Will you be there for them? You who are married may know what it takes-give them your company, your concern, your helpful words, your encouragement, your listening ear. Give them your love and example.
The Rose….
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[i] Rev. Thomas M. Fields, pastor, University Hills Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado